Over 22,000 trips taken through Seattle's SR 99 tunnel on opening day

Drivers took 22,145 trips through the new State Route 99 tunnel under Seattle on the first full day it was open.

Author:
KING Staff

Published:
4:35 PM PST February 5, 2019

Updated:
9:18 AM PST February 6, 2019

The numbers are in. There was a total of 22,145 trips taken through the State Route 99 tunnel under Seattle on Monday, according to Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) spokesperson Laura Newborn. Monday was the first full day the tunnel was open to traffic.

The northbound lanes saw peak traffic around 3 p.m. with 1,000 trips through the tunnel. The southbound lanes saw peak trips around 2 p.m., with around 900.

WSDOT

Newborn said there were "very low traffic volumes" on Monday due to the snow and ice.

WSDOT crews opened the northbound lanes around 11 p.m. Sunday, and the northbound lanes opened about an hour later. All ramps were open by Monday at 12:15 a.m. with the exception of the northbound State Route 99 off-ramp to South Dearborn Street.